For years, prisoners in Zimbabwe have been fed on maggots – yet they did not engage in collective protests of the magnitude we saw last week.
The fact that they finally did so on Friday must not be taken as just a simple reaction to poor food. The significance of the riot goes well beyond that and tells a scary story about the political-economic dire straits in our nation today.
To start with, poor food rations at our prisons are not a simple issue of diet. They are a political and economic matter. Since the early 2000s when President Robert Mugabe’s government went off the rails, the economy derailed as well. Government could no longer do what it was supposed to do – including feeding prisoners. Granted, our prisons had never been the best right from the time of Ian Smith, but things kept getting worse. Now, 15 years later, we have sunk very low.
Hell Hole, the 2009 undercover footage produced by Johann Abrahams and Godknows Nare for SABC, gives a comprehensive picture of the horrors in our prisons. It tells not only of extremely poor food, but also overcrowding, disease and the severe struggle to access medical services. All these horrific cases are a function of our politics – which generated this weeping economy.
In fact, when you look at it closely, our sorry prisons are a microcosm of the political and economic crisis that encompasses every sector. The prisons mirror what is happening in what we tend to think is the free world outside high jail walls.
What, then, is the significance of the Chikurubi riot? If people who are confined within those security walls and guarded by guards, having their lunch/supper by 1pm and being forced to go to sleep in high noon can stage a protest of that extent, what should people out in the free world do?
The prisoners have been complaining about bad food and other dreadful conditions for a long time. The authorities have either given them an arrogant ear or made feeble promises to right the situation. Meanwhile, emotions among the prisoners have been rising. On Friday they boiled over. The inmates rose against authority despite the high odds that come with their confinement.
Similarly, Zimbabweans walking free on the streets have been complaining about the socio-political-economic situation they have been burdened with for a long time. Right now, President Mugabe and his cabinet are clueless on how to mend the situation. Worse still, they are acting as if things are normal and they don’t seem to care, choosing instead to focus on their own self-preservation.
It is not entirely unsafe to say the “free” Zimbabweans who are not confined by prison walls will take motivation from what the prisoners have done. They could well be emboldened by the bravery that the inmates have shown.
They know very well that they are also prisoners in Zimbabwe, seeing as they have been going without food for a long time, they cannot access health services adequately and millions are failing to eke out a living due to the ailing economy. Their situation is pretty much the same as that of the prisoners who rioted – and it is only a matter of time before they start looting the shops and demanding their share from the fat cats.
The possibility of civil strife is very real. As I write, youths are organising themselves to take to the streets in demand of jobs and a decent life. Opposition political parties would not want to be left behind. History would judge them harshly for being beaten to the game by hapless prisoners, so I see them becoming more agitated and more proactive in the push for change.
People know that if they protest, the soldiers and police operatives could shoot some of them. But these servicemen and servicewomen will also get tired of beating up and killing people who have a genuine cause, so they will join in the looting and protests. We have seen this before. In 2008, soldiers joined civilians in breaking into shops. History is likely to repeat itself. – To comment on this article, please contact majonitt@gmail.com
Post published in: News